Imperfection is Perfection
by pseudonym
Summary: Eiji and Oishi. A friend is someone who thinks you're a good egg even though you're slightly cracked.
1. Chapter 1

**fandom:** テニスの王子様

**title: **Imperfection is Perfection

**author:** pseudonym

**pairing/character**s: goldenpair

**rating:** G

**disclaimer:** The character are not mine.

s**ummary: **A friend is someone who thinks you're a good egg even though you're slightly cracked.

- 1 -  
_The problem with assumptions._**  
**

It is an easy assumption to make that Kikumaru Eiji is friends with everyone; well, at least with everyone in his year, that is. Another assumption is that there isn't anyone Eiji cannot get along with. It is also easy to assume that because Eiji is able to befriend just about anyone he must have this wonderful, bubbly, and easy-going personality. To most people this overly energetic and easily excitable boy is their view of who Kikumaru Eiji is. It is rather difficult to not assume these things when the energetic red-head enthusiastically throws his arm around your shoulder and starts to prattle on about the latest movie that he's seen at the cinema or about the new pet shop that opened up a few blocks away from his house, all with a grin on his face and a sparkle in his eye.

However, the thing about assumptions is that sometimes they're not true. Sure, it may seem like Eiji has a ton of friends, but perhaps a more fitting word would be 'acquaintances'. There simply isn't enough time in the day for Eiji to do something with everyone. In fact, if you ask him, Eiji will probably tell you that he doesn't even know half of the names of the people in his class. This, of course, isn't really his fault because the Seigaku freshman class is quite large this year. To make up for his forgetfulness with names, Eiji has a wonderfully photographic memory, and is therefore usually able to remember who a person is by some sort of physical characteristic or some such thing.

For instance, Eiji can never remember the name of the girl who sits three seats to his left, up four rows, in his Japanese history class, even though she smiles and says hello every morning. He can remember that she has three little freckles on her left cheek that form somewhat of an isosceles triangle and that she has a penchant for all things Hello Kitty. Sometimes Eiji has to remind himself to not call her 'Kitty-chan' to her face, even if it is what he calls her in his head.

There is also the strange boy who sits in the desk two seats to his left in Chemistry class. He is always wearing a peculiar grin on his face and totes around a ragged green notebook in which he is almost constantly scribbling in. Usually there is a ball-pen tucked just above the ears of the thick plastic frames perched on his face. Eiji swears that just before an explosion goes off, which is at least once every couple of weeks, those glasses glint in a very diabolical fashion and has thus dubbed the boy from chemistry class, Megane-kun.

It is also not true that Eiji is able to get along with everyone. Sure, he gets along with most people, but not everyone. There are plenty of people who think that Eiji is too loud, too rambunctious, too… well, Eiji. It isn't his fault that he can't sit still for more than ten minutes without having to move. Eiji thinks that there isn't any point in sitting still when you could be moving around and doing something more productive. This is also probably why people sometimes think that he is a bit of a flake who can't take anything seriously enough. Eiji's even heard his parents muttering about his lacking attention span sometimes when they think he's not listening.

Eiji is well aware of these assumptions that people have of him. He would like to say that they don't bother him at all, and most of the time they don't. However, it is natural for everyone to have good days and bad days and it's on those bad days that Eiji feels very inadequate and greatly misunderstood. On good days, he is able to ignore those pointed stares and the rolling of eyes at his antics, and just concentrate on being himself.

However, this greatly contradicts with the assumption that Eiji is too naïve to understand what is going on in his surroundings, or is too simple-minded to be able to even worry about what other people are whispering behind his back. Whether or not the people behind those whispers are aware of just how hurtful those comments are, Eiji tries to keep any reactions hidden. And so, it's also wrong to assume that seemingly bubbly and perpetually happy and outgoing people are incapable of feeling down, or inferior, or… lonely.

While Eiji is a person who does thrive off of contact and socialization with other people, sometimes it feels as though everyone is humouring him. Yes, Eiji does have a lot of _acquaintances_, but people he can really think of as more than just that? Well, he can count the number of people who he considers friends on one hand, not including his thumb, since it isn't really a finger at all. Most people think that they understand him, but if they really did see who he was, then they'd understand that all of those assumptions that they make, simply aren't true at all.

And so, this is where we find Eiji at this moment: tumbling under the shade of a tree, just in view of the tennis courts, trying to cheer himself up after a particularly troublesome day. In the past, he used to use the front lawn to practice acrobatics, since it is free of any trees and shrubbery but he doesn't anymore after a group of upperclassmen told him to knock it off and stop being showy. Since it was his first week at Seigaku at the time, Eiji reluctantly complied, not wanting to create any unnecessary friction between him and his sempai's so early into the new school year. So, now Eiji practices in a less populated area to avoid being told off again.

Truth be told, Eiji isn't really all that interested in tennis. Sure, he has a few years of tennis experience under his belt, though that is due to his mother signing him up for lessons in elementary school, probably as a way to get him out of the house. He has to admit, it is a great way to burn off energy and there is nothing more satisfying than taking out his frustrations on the court after a particularly tiresome day. However, with tennis, Eiji isn't able to find a sense of satisfaction, even after he's just whooped someone's ass.

If Eiji had his own way, he would have taken gymnastic lessons. At an early age Eiji discovered that he was quite flexible. It might have been when he woke up quite disoriented from a dream and had rolled right off the side of his bed. For most people, that wouldn't be a problem, but Eiji owns the top bunk, and so it was quite a distance to the floor. Somehow he had managed to land on his feet after twisting and doing an odd sort of flip in the air. After that, if he had any spare time after tennis lessons, homework, and chores, Eiji was most likely to be found in the backyard, teaching himself cartwheels and flips and other exercises that allowed him to test how much he could twist his body into a pretzel.

Since he is no longer taking lessons and it is still fairly early in the afternoon, Eiji decides to take advantage of the field right beside the tennis courts of Seigaku. Usually there are only the sounds of squeaking tennis shoes, the smack of the ball between racquets, and the light pant from running laps from that area. Today though, from the look of it, there is a bunch of girls lining the chain link fence; Eiji thinks that there must be some sort of a match currently going on, though he pays no mind and carries on his way; he's practiced in much more noisy environments before.

While practicing, the noise from the courts soon fades into the background and Eiji is lost in his own little world. However, about twenty minutes into his practice and while in the middle of a back handspring, Eiji's concentration is jarred by an extremely loud outburst of English. All he can make out is something about a bunny (BAAAANINGU!) and then before he has time to pull out of the flip, he feels a sharp burst of pain in the side of his head; and then everything fades into black.


	2. Chapter 2

**fandom:** テニスの王子様

**title: **Imperfection is Perfection

**author:** pseudonym

**pairing/character**s: goldenpair

**rating:** G

**disclaimer:** Not mine. Konomi-sensei's! Lucky bastard.

s**ummary:**  
A friend is someone who thinks you're a good egg even though you're slightly cracked.

_- 2 -  
The boy with green eyes. The boy with facial stubble.  
_

When Eiji comes to, he is no longer out in the field. Instead he is in what he guesses to be the infirmary, for there is a very faint yet very distinct smell of something medicinal in the air and he can hear voices muttering around him. He moves to sit up and doesn't get very far before flopping back down on to the futon and squeezing his eyes shut. There is a dull throb to the side of his head and even behind the darkness of his eyelids, a wave of vertigo washes over him and he lets out a small groan.

'Are you okay?'

The voice is soft and gentle, yet somehow authoritative at the same time. Eiji feels the little hairs on his arms prickle a bit, a sure sign that someone is bodily close to him, and he can feel steady puffs of warm air blow across his cheek. With a deep breath, Eiji cracks open one eye, slowly this time, and is startled by a set of deep green eyes staring down worriedly at him.

A moment passes where Eiji can only stare at the person hovering above him before he realizes he's being rude and nods his head slowly in affirmation. Then he slowly opens his other eye and takes a look around the room. He is indeed in the infirmary and besides himself and the green-eyed boy there is the school nurse and two other boys. One of the boys he recognizes as the tennis captain; his round glasses and stubble easily giving him away; Eiji has always wondered how any fourteen-year old could have facial hair like that. Eiji's own face is still a smooth as a baby's, a fact that his older sisters constantly tease him about by asking what sort of face products he uses and if they can borrow them.

The other boy is someone that he vaguely recognizes. The boy has brown eyes and is quite tall for someone his age; he carries an apologetic expression on his face. As soon as he notices Eiji staring at him, he drops into a bow and blurts out an apology.

'Kikumaru-san, I'm really sorry about that!"

Eiji shakes his head and gives the boy a warm smile. Yes, his head hurts a lot, but it's not so bad. He has fallen many numerous times in the past while practicing new acrobatics that he is used to it. All he needs was a little ice and he is good to go.

'Don't mind…' Eiji trails off, flashing a 'V' sign while sitting up, slowly, to show that he isn't too badly hurt.

'This is Taka-san,' the green eyed boy begins to explain, moving to stand. 'He's more powerful than he thinks sometimes!'

Taka-san rubs at the back of his head sheepishly and tells Eiji that he sits next to him in English class.

'Nyaa…' Eiji drawls out while glancing at the clock hanging on the wall. 'I should go. The time is not late, but Eiji doesn't feel like he can lay there any longer under close scrutiny. The green eyed boy, who is fidgeting in his spot, is giving Eiji a long stare. A long stare with those intense green eyes that are flooded with concern and worry are beginning to scare Eiji and so he pulls back the sheet and blurts out an excuse.

"You know… I'm feeling a lot better now. But, I think I should get home before my parents wonder where I am!' He swings his feet down and stands up slowly, making sure that the wave of dizziness has passed before picking up his bag that someone had placed beside the futon for him. 'Thanks for bringing me here.'

Without saying anything more and ignoring how the green eyed boy moves to perhaps try and stop him, Eiji bolts from the room as quickly as possible after giving a quick bow to excuse himself. As he walks away, Eiji tries to pace himself and make it seem like he's in no hurry at all, even though he feels as though he can't get away quickly enough. He reminds himself to greet Taka-san in English class the next day and to try and stay away from the tennis courts in the future. Eiji doesn't like the way how the tennis captain was looking at him; Yamato-sempai had an odd little smile on his face, which reminded him all too much of a certain friend.

As Eiji slips his trainers off by the front door, he mentally berates himself for being a dolt because he knows that he really couldn't tell if the captain was staring at him or not because of those crazy glasses. Still, it is rather obvious when someone has their eye on you because you can just feel them watching you.

That green eyed boy though…. Even thinking about those eyes gives Eiji the pricklies on the back of his neck. He rubs the little hairs back down as he climbs the stairs to his room after grabbing an ice pack from the freezer and giving a tired 'hoi' to his parents. He feels a little bit weird, a bit not like his usual talkative self. Chalking it up to having been hit quite harshly in the head, by a tennis ball no less, Eiji settles down in bed and drapes the soothing cold over the bump on his injury and tries to think about how that boy, Taka-san, he corrects himself, could have hit a tennis ball that far into the field… or what that captain could have been thinking about…, anything to keep his mind from remembering those green eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

**fandom:** テニスの王子様

**title: **Imperfection is Perfection

**author:** pseudonym

**pairing/character**s: goldenpair

**rating:** G

**disclaimer:** Not mine. Konomi-sensei's!

s**ummary:**  
A friend is someone who thinks you're a good egg even though you're slightly cracked.

- 3 -_  
The devious best friend._

The next day at school, Eiji sports a rather large lump on his head. Fortunately, his mop of bright red hair covers most of it except for a bit of bruising that is sometimes visible by his ear if his hair flips up in a certain way. He ignores the curious gazes directed at him and settles himself at his desk, resting his chin on his arms. He didn't sleep very well last night and he is really too tired to even make his way around the room and socialize as he usually does every morning.

'Good morning, Eiji.'

'Nyaa… I'm trying to sleep, Fuji!' Eiji lets a little whine into his voice as the constantly-smiling tensai settles into the seat next to him. Eiji had met Fuji Syuusuke about a month into the school year. Fuji had been a late transfer and Eiji had immediately struck up a conversation with the boy, more out of habit than anything else really; however, it was probably one of the best things Eiji could have done as Fuji was now one of his closest friends.

There is something about Fuji that draws Eiji to him. He hasn't quite figured it out yet, but guesses that it has something to do with the both of them being misunderstood. Their fellow classmates had immediately paid attention to the fact that Fuji was extremely gifted. It only took a couple of classes before the graceful boy had a small trail of girls twittering behind him as he carried on. On the outside, Fuji was the model student, a boy blessed with good looks and the ability to pick up on things with great ease.

To Eiji, Fuji is a little more like himself. Well, Fuji is of course a lot smarter than him, but they are both people who don't let others see the full extent of themselves. For Eiji, it's just easier to let other people assume that he is more than a little dense rather than try to explain to them that just because he likes to goof around and make people laugh and smile, doesn't mean that he isn't able to be serious or studious; he just prefers not to be like that.

With Fuji, Eiji is able to see how Fuji holds himself back. One time, Eiji had leaned over to take a quick glance at Fuji's notes as he had missed what the professor had been saying for the past twenty minutes, not at all due to the fact that it was Maths and it was his last favourite subject. Either Fuji was writing his notes in Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, or he also wasn't paying attention and had decided to doodle on his notes instead. It turned out that Fuji saw no need to take notes for formulas that he already knew, yet thought it would be quite rude to sit through a lecture and not write anything at all. Eiji still suspects that Fuji does know some of those hieroglyphics.

Fuji also likes to play games. This at first had made Eiji really happy. Then Eiji figured out that mind-games and manipulation were more Fuji's style. Fuji has a way with words and he knows exactly what to say to make your skin crawl or make you angry or make you really unhappy. It was only after Eiji had witnessed Fuji humiliate an upperclassman after he had made some unkind remarks about Fuji's femininity, that he decided to always stay on Fuji's good side.

'Did you sleep well?' Fuji probes, though Eiji knows that he already somehow knows. He has long since given up trying to figure out how Fuji seems to know everything about everything; trying to figure that out had left him with a really rotten headache. For now, Eiji isn't going to rise up to Fuji's bait and instead decides to play innocent.

Stifling a yawn, Eiji sits back up and runs a hand through his hair to smooth a few unruly strands back down; he mentally notes not to buy that brand of hair gel again, even though he didn't have a choice at the time because his favourite kind was sold out. He is careful in gently brushing his fingers over the sore spot. 'Tetsu kept me up last night, nyan; he was so fidgety and loud. He thinks that I don't know about those magazines he hides under his mattress!'

He is saved from having to further divert Fuji's attention away from him, by the chime of the second bell and by the professor who loudly drops his portfolio onto his desk and asks everyone to settle in their seats. Fuji doesn't further inquire, though Eiji feels the stare directed at him and he tries his best to just ignore it.

As the two of them are walking to lunch later on that morning, Eiji is starting to think that Fuji is not going to probe any further. He soon realizes that the unusual conversation that he had been wrapped up in has allowed Fuji to sneak them past their usual lunch spot and to the front of the tennis club house.

Eiji tries to blink as dumbly as possible and throws Fuji a quizzical glance. 'Fuji, why are we here? I'm really hungry, you know. I was so tired that I didn't eat a lot of breakfast.'

'Saa…' is all that Fuji murmurs, clamping his hand around Eiji's wrist and stepping into the clubhouse after knocking sharply against the door three times.


End file.
